I tried switching from Coffee to Green Tea a few years back, as a way to get the caffeine hit without some of the downsides.
Problem was it made me really stinky, so I had to switch back.
As I mentioned upthread, I can’t stand regular western tea, but there are a couple of asian ones that I can drink. Chrysanthemum tea is one of those.
Side anecdote. When I was travelling around China I was intrigued to notice that a lot of bus drivers had a giant glass jar filled with water and cut flowers under their seat. Then when the bus stopped one of them grabbed the jar, unscrewed the top and started drinking it. I assume it was basically DIY tea.
I remember reading a scandi detective novel and while the story wasn’t that exciting, the glimpses of local life and culture were interesting. I have no idea how true it all was, but I assume since it was written by a local…
The most interesting thing for me was that every single house the detective entered seemed to have a pot of coffee on the stove. I got the impression it was just always there and warm and ready to be served.
French Presses?
Instant coffee is fine as a quick alternative, but it’s not coffee. Personally, I’ll often have it as a lighter option if I feel like I’ve had too much proper coffee already. (Like today. Proper coffee for breakfast. Instant coffee at 11. Proper coffee after lunch).
I like French Press coffee, and I also like those Italian Bialetti stove top espresso pots… but they are all bastards to clean.
I had a drip coffee machine at one point, but it was also a git to clean.
Paper filter drips are easy to clean, and give a bit of a milder taste.
But personally I use an Aeropress, which is frickin awesome. It looks like a dodgy sex toy, but it’s a mix of a french press, an espresso pot and filter coffee, but without needing to be cleaned. It does burn through a lot of coffee though.
Side note: after a health check telling me I have worryingly high cholesterol levels, I discovered that coffee is a real p.i.t.a for that. Even instant.
French presses seem to be the worst.
Anything with a paper filter is much better as it removes a lot of the problematic oils. Aeropress is also good for that.